Spreading #LoveToHomophobes, One Parent at a Time

We at The Quint believe it’s time to reach out to homophobes. Join our campaign – #LoveToHomoPhobes.

Participants take part in a gay pride march in New Delhi. (Photo: Reuters)

We all have that one friend who religiously posts anti-sexist, anti-racist, anti-homophobic posts on social networking sites.

We like the post, smile about it and admire the fact that someone is vocal about it. But that’s it. We forget about it, until Facebook notifies the next post on our phones.

These posts found prominence in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting in a gay nightclub. They gain relevance when you take into account The Quint’s sting operation, which revealed that ayurvedic doctors at Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali clinics believe that homosexuality is a disease.

Therefore, we at The Quint, decided that it’s time to reach out and offer #LoveToHomophobes.

What better way to start this campaign than talking about this young Thane boy who has been spreading love to one of the biggest propagators of “homosexuality is unnatural” agenda – our own parents?

Dhruv Deshpande went through the entire vicious circle of “haaye raam, you are gay” to “okay fine, tell me about it,” and believe it or not, it actually works.

We love our parents, sure we do. But it’s no secret that they can be bigots when it comes to ‘taboo’ topics like homosexuality.

“Today, the biggest propagators of the notion of rape culture, caste system, racism, Islamophobia, homophobia etc are your parents generation, however latent it may be. Do not ignore it because you think you’re respecting your parents. You aren’t. You are disrespecting them by letting them become socially irrelevant.”

Dhruv says it’s time to tell your parents that they are wrong when they uphold a conventional idea of “sexuality”. That they are wrong when they talk of homosexuality in hushed tones, as if it’s a “disorder.”

If you trace it, squash it. Let it be an argument, a fight, a stand off, but don’t give up on your parents by silently letting them be carriers of social evils. So, stop preaching online. Look behind your computer screens at the wrinkled little lovable bigot you’re living with. If you love them, tell them they’re wrong. They’re wrong a lot.

While we can’t legislate an end to homophobia, shoot it out of our systems with one shot or “cure” it, we can maybe, address it, with love.

Send us your message of #LoveToHomophobes.

And you could probably start with your folks back home.